Many liquid materials such as hand lotions, shampoo, dishwashing liquids, waxes, cleaning fluids, etc. are packaged in containers from which it is desired that the content materials should be dispensed in relatively small quantities.
A container or bottle for such a material often is provided with a cap or closure which has a small dispensing opening and a sealing device, for example, a stopper or plug, for that opening. The stopper or plug usually is manually moveable from a position closing the opening to a position which permits materials to be dispensed through the opening. Many of the closures for materials of this type consist of two separate parts, the plug or stopper being moveable relative to the main body of the closure to open and close the dispensing orifice. Usually the movement of the plug from closed to open, or dispensing, position requires the use of both hands, one to hold the container and the second to move the plug or stopper. Two part closures are relatively expensive because of the necessity for having two expensive molds and, often, a manual operation to assemble the two parts to each other.
It is the principal object of the invention to provide a one-piece dispensing closure for containers of materials of the type mentioned, all portions of the closure being integral with each other.
A second object of the invention is to provide a one-piece dispensing closure which can be molded, for example, from a resinous material by the use of a mold having a single cavity, thus reducing the cost of the molds necessary to produce the finished closure and eliminating the necessity for manual operations in order to assemble two parts to each other.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a one-piece dispensing closure for the neck of a container such as a bottle in which the dispensing closure can be opened by the fingers of the same hand which is holding the container.
A further object of the invention is to provide a dispensing closure in which the cap and plug for closing the dispensing opening is held out of interfering position when the container is inverted for the purpose of dispensing its content material.